What the couple's interview examines: the themes the procedures name

The short answer

The procedures publish no list of questions, and this article does not invent one. What they set out is the subject matter. All three partner procedures say the interview is held under the Authority's interview procedure 5.1.0013 and covers three cumulative components: the sincerity of the relationship between you, a shared centre of life, and the absence of a security or criminal impediment, including a criminal past abroad. For unmarried couples a fourth theme is added: exclusivity.

Procedure 5.1.0013 describes the interview as a personal conversation in questions and answers, with a fair opportunity for the interviewee to state their case. Before it, the official cross-checks the registry data and studies your file; preparing means knowing it at least as well.

The interview at the Population Authority: how to prepare

Theme one: a sincere relationship

Sincerity is measured against what you filed: the letter signed by both of you about the relationship, your shared life, and how and for how long you have known each other; photographs of the two of you; letters from family and friends who know you as a couple; and any documentation that shows the relationship exists and how long it has lasted. The Authority's interview summary form names the subjects for its conclusions, such as the centre of life and the genuineness of the marriage.

The ground for refusal is defined in the same terms: no convincing evidence of a sincere relationship, or a fictitious relationship intended to obtain status. So the preparation for this theme is your own letter: its dates, places and events are the reference point for everything you say.

Support letters from family and friends: who writes them and what they should say

Theme two: a shared household and a centre of life in Israel

Here the procedures list the evidence themselves, from at least the last year: confirmations of services from government institutions, including the municipality or local council; a rental agreement; joint bills; a bank statement. The office may also query the National Insurance Institute and the Ministry of Education as part of the centre-of-life check. A couple who lived abroad before applying under 5.2.0011 is asked for evidence of a shared household during at least the year before the application.

• Documents carrying the same address for both of you, over time, say more than one document from last month.
• A record held elsewhere, such as at National Insurance, should match the address and dates you give.

Theme three: no criminal or security impediment

This theme rests on checks more than on questions. The office examines the certificate of good conduct you filed and queries the police about the Israeli partner, and about the foreign partner once in Israel for more than six months; where a security assessment is required, you fill in a full curriculum vitae form. A criminal past abroad means not only a conviction but also being wanted or suspected of an offence that indicates dangerousness; the office then asks for detailed information, including the judgment from the country of origin. If anything of this kind exists, bring the documents and speak about it plainly.

Theme four, for unmarried couples: exclusivity

Procedure 5.2.0009 adds that the interview also covers the exclusivity and uniqueness of the relationship and, where one of you is still registered as married to someone else, that partner's efforts to dissolve the marriage, proved with original, authenticated and translated public documents. It also orders in-depth questioning where a married couple may be presenting itself as common-law partners.

Two accounts, one file

Procedure 5.1.0013 is written around one interviewee at a time, and it tells the official to record in detail any contradiction between what you say and the documents in the file, between your statements in several interviews, and between the statements of different interviewees. Expect each of you to give your own account, and expect the two accounts to be compared with each other and with the file.

Consistency is not memorised wording. In a 2017 State Comptroller report, the Authority's own reasons for re-examining refused files included refusals that rested on non-material contradictions between the partners' versions and an insufficient examination of the sincerity of the relationship.

The interview record, the interpreter and asking for a copy

What a doubt or a contradiction leads to

• Further examination: at any stage the office may invite you to another interview, require more documents, make further checks or ask for a bank guarantee. On an application from abroad, a more in-depth interview may be ordered, with written notice to the Israeli partner.
• A completion request: documents found insufficient come back as a written list, to be filed within 45 days.
• More time: where the head of the visa team doubts the sincerity of the relationship, the previous licence may be extended by six months and sincerity examined again; at the end of the process, doubt may bring one more year on the A/5 licence.
• A refusal: a reasoned written notice, with the option of an appeal under procedure 1.6.0001. When the refusal rests on the interview findings, both of you are invited to the office to receive it, and the foreign partner is required to leave within 30 days.

After the interview: what happens next

How IsraelVisa helps

IsraelVisa helps you sort your evidence by the themes the procedures name, keep your letter and the file in one place, and see which theme still has little behind it, yourselves and at your own pace. IsraelVisa does not give legal advice; if you wish, you can find independent lawyers through it.

Frequently asked questions

Are we interviewed together or separately?

The partner procedures do not fix a format. The interview procedure 5.1.0013 is written as a personal conversation with an interviewee and tells the official to record contradictions between the statements of different interviewees, so be ready for each of you to answer on your own.

Can we bring documents to the interview?

Yes. Under procedure 5.1.0013 the interviewee may hand in documents and evidence to support what they say, and the official may ask for them. The originals of the file documents are presented at the same appointment where possible.

Does one contradiction end the application?

The procedures refuse an application when no convincing evidence of a sincere relationship was presented or the relationship is fictitious. Where there is doubt, they also allow further checks, another interview or a six-month extension before a decision. A 2017 State Comptroller report records that the Authority itself re-examined refusals that rested on non-material contradictions.

Is a criminal record abroad part of the interview?

Yes. The absence of a security or criminal impediment, including a criminal past abroad, is one of the three cumulative components the interview covers, alongside the police and security queries the office makes.

Related reading

• The interview at the Population Authority: how to prepare
• Documents for the Gradual Process: what to collect, and in what form
• After the interview: what happens next

More on The interview

• The interview at the Population Authority: how to prepare
• The interview record and the interpreter at the Population Authority
• After the interview: what happens next

Sources

• Procedure 5.2.0008 - status for a foreign spouse married to an Israeli citizen (edition 16, 20.07.2026), sections C.9, D.2.F, D.2.H, E.1(3)-(4), E.2(6)-(8), E.2(10)-(11), F.1-F.3, G.10 and H(11) (Hebrew)
• Procedure 5.2.0009 - applications for status on the basis of a shared life (edition 17, 16.07.2026), sections C.3, C.6, D.2.F, D.2.H, E.1.C-D, E.2(5)-(8), E.2(10)-(11), F.1-F.3, G.5 and H.8 (Hebrew)
• Procedure 5.2.0011 - status for a foreign spouse married to a permanent resident (10.12.2020), sections C.3, D.1.H-I, D.3.A-D, D.5.B-E, D.7.B-E, D.8.D and E.8 (Hebrew)
• Procedure 5.1.0013 - conducting interviews (edition 2, 31.08.2016), sections A-D, G and appendix B (Hebrew)
• State Comptroller, Annual Report 67B (2017) - the handling of the civil status of foreign family members of Israelis, p. 1065 (Hebrew)